Waking Up in a Forest
by Loads of Randomness
Summary: Callen wakes in the middle of a forest with no memory of the past week. He has nothing but a briefcase. Inside, he finds a pistol, forged passports and a few pages of a child's diary. Oh, what has he gotten himself into now? AnIntrovertsPen Writing Prompt #6
1. Prologue: Waking Up

Someone was trying to drill a hole through his head _and _run him over with a truck or five. What the _hell _had happened to him this time? He hated the feeling of regaining consciousness. Keeping his head still, Callen wracked his mind for some memory of how he came to be this way.

Nothing.

He frowned slightly to himself. Not even flashes of memories.

Not completely unusual in his line of work he supposed. The main question to as '_is he safe_?'

Callen was used to relying on senses other than his sight. Seeing something yourself usually means someone saw you looking. Not ideal in a possible hostage situation which, he listened to his surroundings carefully, he didn't think he was in for a change. Also, hostage takers really liked to use blindfolds. Sight really could be the most useless of senses. He couldn't sense any bodies nearby either, which was good and bad. Good because no one was guarding or holding him. Bad because it meant his partner and team weren't there. Of course, they could be elsewhere…hopefully not unconscious, or dead.

He tried not to think of the latter. He rather liked this oddball team of his.

He decided that he was safe, at least for the time being, Callen tried to open his eyes. Aaand immediately regretted it. Pain shot sharply behind his eyes in protest. Groaning, he stopped all movement of his eyeballs, even roving them slightly hurt horribly.

It took a few achingly long minutes for the pain to subside enough that it wasn't a distraction. He tried again and he partially succeeded. His eyes filled with a myriad of browns and greens before shutting again. Progress. At least his sight hadn't _gone _like what happened in Libya…

He gave himself yet another few minutes before trying again. This time he succeeded. Thankfully the ambient light was dim. Callen did hate how glaring light could be when you first regained consciousness. You may as well be blind.

The first thing he noticed was leaves. Lots of them. Great. He forced himself to sit up, leaves slipping off his body. He shivered. Tentatively Callen twisted his torso to check for any injuries, no aches or pains except for the one thumping in his head. Had he been drugged? He didn't feel overly sluggish and his thoughts weren't slow. If it wasn't for the lack of memory, he would have thought that he had simply been knocked over the head. On that thought, he felt around the back of his head and winced. It was tender back there but that might have been because he fell, not due to a deliberately injury.

Shaking his head, and immediately regretting it, he started to pat himself down to check what he had that could be used as a weapon. Being defenceless had never worked in his favour and he couldn't rely on his physical strength at the moment. No gun, which he really didn't expect. Only absolute idiots or cocky weirdos left you with a gun.

What was bothering Callen more than he cared to admit was that he had no memories flooding back to him. Not even fragments. Nothing leading to him being unconscious, nothing from earlier in the mission what he hoped was the same day as today. He frowned. He couldn't even remember what case he had been working on. Was there even a case?

Suppressing the panic he felt bubbling up inside of him, Callen looked purposely around him. Nothing really stood out. It was a fairly dense forest with nondescript trees, Kensi could probably be able to tell him exactly what they were. There were no bodies on the ground, so no firefight happened here? Did one happen elsewhere? His brows furrowed further, wishing he had _something _to go on.

Making a judgement that it was safe, Callen brought himself slowly to his feet. Closing his eyes, he rode out the wave of dizziness he braced himself on a handy nearby tree. The rough bark stung his hands. Looking at him them he saw that they were rubbed raw, even skinned in some places. Were they a result of whatever put him here or from something else? Had he even injured his hands at any point before this, this incident? The sinking feeling in his stomach was getting worse.

He couldn't remember. Callen very rarely lost his memory of horrible things that happened to him. Actually, he had the opposite problem, he remembered everything in glaring detail. His face twisted into a self-deprecating grimace. He had always been like that.

Keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings, Callen tried to think back to beyond today (whatever _day_ today even was). The last thing he could remember was having drinks with his team after a case involving a case involving literal ninjas. But he felt that something had happened after that. He squinted across the forest floor. Wait, what was that over there?


	2. What's in the Case?

Callen peered across the forest floor, it appeared to be a brown box of some sort? It was half covered in leaves, unfortunately, like everything in this forest funnily enough. Was it related to what happened to him or was it just some sort of trash?

A stabbing pain shot through his head again. He couldn't help but hiss in pain. Hopefully, there was no one around to here that. His headache was getting worse.

Extremely cautiously, knowing his luck it could be a bomb, Callen approached it. As he got closer, he could see that it was more case-like than box-like with a seam of some sort around the edge.

No obvious wires were protruding from it, no cell phone strapped to it or ticking noises. Not that it meant anything of course. He was really wanting Sam's expertise right about now. Callen made a mental note to pay mre atte tion to his partner the next time a bomb had to be dismantled. Heck, even just having Sam with no weapons would be great. There was just too much exposed land to cover with no clear line of sight thanks to the damn trees. He was feeling really on edge just being here.

He was standing over the case now, which he could see was actually a suitcase. A very plain one, well used with a worn-out leather handle and fading stickers on the top. Looked like one of those old-fashioned ones that were ways used in movies. He gave the case a sharp kick, nothing happened except a cloud of leaves being thrown into air and the suitcase shifting forwards slightly. The thud noise that it made when his foot connected with it echoed around him. Thankfully, no explosion or mechanical noises. Not one of his better ideas but he wasn't exactly one hundred percent compos mentis at the moment.

That would be his excuse when someone questioned it in his report later. If there was even a later for him.

Using only slightly questionable judgement Callen knelt by the suitcase and tried the latch. He felt it give a little before opening with a soft click. Even that echoed sharply. He resisted the Deeks-like urge to cheer. Disappointedly, it wasn't full (or was that better?). There was small violet book, a stack of what _looked _to be legit passports and some loose papers. Even now, not wanting to contaminate what was hopefully evidence, Callen searched his pockets for some gloves. He doubted that Hetty would view being dumped unconcious in a forest as a legtimate excuse for contaminating evidence. Surprisingly he found some, he slipped them on and started lifting the items out of the suitcase.

There were one, two…five passports. Two Russian, one Japanese, one Australian and the final was, Moldovan? The Russian ones were very obviously fakes. The printing on the covers was of very poor quality and, upon flicking through them, it looked like someone had used a _very _bad version of Google translate for the text. The Japanese was a fairly decent forgery. There was something slightly off about the first page but he had no Japanese knowledge at all, it would have to run by Kensi. The remaining two looked legit but, based on the others, probably not.

He didn't recognise any of the photos in the passports. In his current mental state that really didn't mean much but hopefully Eric and Nell could run them. There was no way that these people were _not _up to something. Placing them carefully in the lid, Callen then picked up the papers. Only to immediately drop them. He stopped and breathed deeply through his nose. He lifted the papers again. Yep, that was definitely a gun.

Callen groaned, he was doing a lot of that today. Ignoring the papers for the time being he carefully picked up the gun. It was suspiciously light. Checking the cartridge, he found that his first thoughts were correct. No bullets. Great, he couldn't even use the suspiciously hidden gun for his own defence. There didn't seem to be any ammunition boxes that he could have used. He narrowed his eyes. Unless there was a secret compartment?

Callen could almost hear Deeks say "In situations like this there's _always _a secret compartment."

Carefully placing all the contents on the ground Callen carefully checked. Nothing. He tried not to feel too disappointed. Giving the apparently empty case a quick shake he didn't hear anything rattling inside it. Okay, no secret compartment then.

Darn it. If Deeks was here, he'd be pouting.

Back to the papers then. Maybe the questionable people who owned this suitcase actally had their plans written down.

Hey, he could dream couldn't he?


	3. A Panicked Interlude

**AN: The idea for this chapter was inspired by /u/LostForeverInHisEyes' and /u/countrygirluk56's reviews. Thanks guys!**

"What do you _mean _you don't know where he is?" Sam demanded loudly of his teammates, having debriefed the FBI agents they had been working with.

Kensi and Deeks exchanged anxious looks. Deeks cleared his throat.

"Well?"

Kensi raised her palms towards him and repeated her partner's earlier statement, "We don't know where Callen is."

Sam's eyes narrowed so Kensi added hastily, "He went after one of the guys who ran from me and him as you two," she waved her hands at Sam and Deeks, "secured the kids."

"I saw him running that way about three minutes later," Deeks piped up, pointing south of their current position and trying to unobtrusively stand behind his partner.

Sam took a deep breath through his nose, also pinching sad appendage.

"And he hasn't come back yet?"

The younger pair shook their heads.

"I didn't hear any gunshots," Deeks said helpfully.

"He could have been drugged," Sam snapped.

Kensi glared at him, making him back up slightly, "Hey, we aren't the reason Callen isn't here."

"I know," he replied, biting his lip. "Sorry," he added, looking at Deeks.

"No bother," Deeks accepted, shrugging his shoulders. "We want to know where Callen is too."

"Maybe he's not even in another bother," Kensi said hopefully. "He could have just chased him for a good distance. He could be coming back."

"Since when has Callen had that sort of luck?" Deeks demanded then side-eyed Sam as Kensi gave him a pointed look. "I mean-uh. Yeah, he could be coming back. Maybe with one of the perps."

Sam shook his head, a grin slipping through his worried expression.

"Deeks is right, Kens," Sam pointed out. "It's more likely he's currently grappling with guy, is injured or is captured."

No one wanted to add the possible fourth option. Their leader wasn't _that _unlucky.

They got distracted from the case of their leader for a few minutes as FBI agents and SWAT agent approached them to offer thanks and give their reports. A few gleeful looking FBI agents handed them a glut of the evidence, declaring that "You were so insistent that this was _your _case, so your evidence." Parents of the victims were also effusive with their praise.

Eventually they had brushed everyone off, the FBI and local NCIS office taking charge of the victims to keep their team out of any limelight.

"That was almost more exhausting than chasing those guys down," Kensi complained.

The guys nodded, they weren't used to dealing with a storm of people who were affected by one of their cases.

"Callen didn't turn up, then?" queried Deeks, looking between Kensi and Sam.

Frowning, Sam shook his head.

"What now?" Kensi asked worriedly, peering across the shipping containers (where their case had thankfully come to a happy end) as if Callen would just appear.

To be fair, their leader had a habit of doing just that so she wasn't being completely ridiculous.

"What direction did he chase Robbs?" Sam asked, looking at Kensi.

"Over there," she said, pointing to the exit to a narrow, rarely used back road.

They all stared hopefully at it as if just their stares would make Callen appear or some obvious evidence turn up.

"Where does that road even lead to?" questioned Sam

"A residential area," Deeks automatically answered.

The two agents looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Max may have had some 'business deals' here," Deeks admitted.

"Ohhh," they responded understandingly.

"Why was Max in a loading area?" Sam asked before stopping Deeks before he started. "Actually, I don't want to know. What I _do _want to know is where my partner is."

"Get Eric and Nell to ping his phone?" suggested Kensi.

"Already on it," Nell's voice suddenly stated in their ears.

"Aargh!" yelped Deeks, rubbing at his left ear.

They had forgotten to turn their comms off.

"You should really pay more attention to your earpieces," Eric commented as they heard his tapping of keys in the background.

"Please," muttered Nell.

Deeks and Kensi blushed at the thought of what the two meerkats might have overheard. Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Guys, have you-"

"His phone is about two miles from here," came Eric's response to the unasked question. "Co-ordinates on your phone."

"Thanks," Sam said, turning to get his car.

"We'll follow," Kensi said immediately, jaw set as she indicated to herself and Deeks.

"You don't know what state he's in," reiterated Deeks.

Sam shrugged. "Was going to ask you anyway." He stated simply.

It didn't take them long to get to where Callen's phone was. It was actually a mile and a half west from the back road Kensi had pointed to. Unfortunately, there was no Callen unconscious or otherwise nearby.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Deeks in frustration, kicking a rock.

Sam's face was tense and Kensi was carefully putting the phone in an evidence bag. Just in case a crime had happened.

Rubbing his temples, Sam sighed heavily.

"No dice?" asked Nell over their still active comms.

"No," Kensi responded when it became obvious that Sam wasn't going to.

"Any clues to where he might be?" added Eric worriedly.

"Evidence of a scuffle but no footprints or tyre marks," said Deeks. "There are no cameras around here either."

"Seriously?" complained Eric. "This is LA!"

"Looks like there used to be one though," said Kensi, peering closer at a pole.

"According to documents, there should be one still here," said Eric, assumedly looking at said documents on his screen.

"Meaning some of our suspects removed them," confirmed Kensi.

"How would they know Callen would come this way?" asked Sam

"They planned on one of us chasing them so one became bait?" guessed Deeks.

"Hmm, check surrounding cameras," Sam ordered Nell and Eric.

"Already on it," said Nell before clicking of her comms.


	4. More Clues

He mentally flipped a coin to decide which of the last two items to investigate next. Tails. Loose papers it was.

"Hopefully there would be no more 'surprises' under them," thought Callen as he lifted them for a second time and held them close to his face for inspection.

They seemed to be made a cheap notepaper. It was almost see-through. The kind that was in the notebooks you bought at the counter of newsagents. Very difficult, if not impossible, to trace. They were roughly ripped along the top, like they had been torn out of a spiral bound book. Probably confirmed the notebook theory, maybe the Dynamic Duo would at least be able to verify that.

There were lines and boxes drawn on them, some running off the page. Spreading them out on the ground around them, he tried to see if they were linked in some way. He picked himself up from the ground (when had he sat down?) so he could look at them all at once. Hmm, it was a bit more helpful.

Callen turned to fourth one ninety degrees to the right and completely flipped the first one. The second one went between the fifth and the first. He grabbed at the third and first ones as a slight breeze lifted them slightly. He wished he had tape to hold them together. Grabbing some stones, he wighted each other corners down. Together the six pages formed an outline of some sort. A…floor plan? He frowned and tilted his head. He didn't recognise the layout and the notes around it were in Russian. Was Arkady involved in this? He wouldn't put it past the Russian. Unfortunately, notes only denoted measurements and exits. Nothing useful without some sort of context.

Rubbing his temples, he dropped that thought for the moment and lifted the small book. It was slim and had a deep purple laminated card cover. He opened it randomly in the middle.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today mom was sooooo mean. I was really really __fros__forst__frostre__ mad! It was just so NOT cool. Like I didn't even mean it!_

Confused, Callen flipped to another page. Was this a diversionary tactic? Was it written in some sort of code?

_Dear diary,_

_School was awesome today we had a fire drill. No class for half an hour! Yay! We didn't have to do that stupid science test._

He flicked to the start. This was just confusing.

_Dear diary,_

_This is such a stupid idea. I don't even WANT to do this. You're just a book not even a you. Mom and dad said I should though. Made that look that meant I HAD to it. Sumthing about writing my feelings instead f acting on them. Whateva! It wasn't MY FAULT I punched Joey-_

Callen blinked and almost dropped the book. This was a child's diary! A preteen/young teen girl's from the tone of it. He held it in front of him between finger and thumb, his skin crawling. He felt slightly voyeuristic and dirty. There was just something fundamentally _wrong _with reading a child's diary. And yes, Callen was aware of how contradictory that sounded when he was a special agent rummage through a presumably foreign national's document. That was different. A child's diary didn't pertain to national security. Usually.

Why on earth did a suitcase full of forged documents, a floor plan and an _empty _pistol also have a child's diary? Did this mean it was part of a kidnapping? A possible trafficking ring? His stomach churned slightly. He really hoped that last one was wildly off base.

Did he come across a child and was attacked by whoever took her? It would explain why he was dumped here; the child was probably more important than completely stopping him. It didn't explain the leaving of the suitcase. That was literally the opposite of countering forensic evidence.

He sat on the ground again, rubbing his temples. He could feel a lump forming on the back of his head and a stress headache coming on.

Nothing about this made any sense.

He picked up the gun again. Looking more carefully at it he noticed it was completely free of any identifying markings. It looked like they had been filed off. He rubbed his fingers around the barrel and looked carefully at them. No residue of any kind was coming off implying that the removal had been done far in advance. A lab test would obviously pick up more.

His head throbbed again. It suddenly occurred to Callen that he _probably _had some form of mild concussion. Not good. A concussion usually involved hospitals and Hetty and Sam practically restraining him to a bed.

This was getting more confusing the more he thought about it. What the hell had he come across this time? Why weren't his team here? Did they even know he was here? Where was here?

He backed up so he was leaning against a tree and rested his head carefully on it. Might as well get somewhat comfortable. Knowing he couldn't do anything more with the passports or gun, not until he got forensics off them, Callen reluctantly decided to go through the diary properly. Thinking of Kamran, he shuddered. This was all sorts of wrong.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was so so hot-_

-CRUNCH-


	5. A Decisive Interlude

"That last the car was seen was on the outskirts of this forest," Eric told the three teammates as they pulled up to said forest in Sam's car.

"Are you sure, Eric?" asked Deeks.

"And is Callen definitely with them?" demanded Sam.

"Yep, and the timecodes show they didn't stop anywhere."

They looked at the tall, dense trees in front of them in dismay. Of course, it had to be a forest. It couldn't be anywhere _easy _to investigate? Like a building or a car park.

"Great," muttered Sam, slamming his door shut.

That was the only sound in the immediate area. It echoed. Some birds shot up from the trees as a started flock. There were no cars on this road and it looked like there hadn't been in a while. There was also no sign that the car they had been tracking.

They had discovered that Callen had been knocked unconscious by people lying in wait for him as his suspect had run past them. It was obviously a set up. Not wasting any time, the men had bundled him in a small, unobtrusive car and promptly driven off.

It was looking more like Callen had been targeted by these guys, whoever they were and less like an opportunistic capture. Was it related to their current case or did Robbs have some other beef with their leader?

Of course, the car wasn't unobtrusive enough for Eric and Kaleidoscope. It had taken him mere minutes to find and track the small car's progress. To be fair, they were clever. Obeyed all traffic laws and didn't act suspiciously. Kept off the major highways as well.

"I've got the address of Robbs motel," Eric said, interrupting their train of thought. "I've checked the cameras and two of the guys in the car, a one Andrew Mendoza and a Carl Klein, returned there about forty-five minutes ago.

"Any sign of G?" demanded Sam.

"Nope, he's not with him," Nell confirmed their worst thoughts.

They all growled or groaned in frustration. This was going nowhere. Wanting to do _something _useful, Kensi scanned their surrounding again, trying to see if there was something that stood out.

"Why are there no car tracks here?" Kensi asked, crouching down to inspect the dirt encrusted road. "They should have left some sort of imprint." She waved at Sam's car where there were car tracks behind the wheel quite visible against the dirt.

Deeks went down next to her, frowning.

"Something looks wrong here," he said, pointing to the ground between them.

Kensi reached out and rubbed the ground. A layer of dry dirt covered her fingers.

"There's wet ground under it!" she exclaimed as Deeks just looked smug.

"They covered the very ground they covered?" asked Sam incredulously.

"Looks like it," said Deeks, straightening up and holding his hand out to his partner.

Kensi, for one, took his hand and hauled herself up. She dusted the dirt of her hand onto her jeans and observed their surroundings.

"How are we going to cover the entire forest," Kensi asked, feeling helpless as the trees loomed over them.

Sam took in his surroundings. "We shouldn't split up," he decided.

"We won't cover much area before nightfall," Deeks pointed out.

"But we don't want to lose someone else either," Sam retorted.

Nell interrupted, "And your comms won't work in there."

"Together it is," Deeks agreed, then his face fell. "So, the direction we go in is even more important."

"Nell, did the guys go in any particular direction when they entered the forest?" asked Kensi, taking careful stock of the forest floor – there was no evidence of anyone even walking there.

"Sorry guys, the camera's range stops literally at that tree," Nell apologised over their comms.

The teammates stared at the line of trees that weren't giving up any of their secrets.

"Rock, paper, scissors the direction?" suggested Deeks only semi-seriously, feeling more and more helpless as time went on.

It wasn't long until sunset and Callen had gone off only wearing a t-shirt…

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Deeks," came Hetty's voice.

"Did you find him, Hetty?" Sam asked hopefully, surely she would have magicked him up?

She always knew where to find him and drag him out of whatever situation he had gotten himself into.

"Unfortunately not, Mr Hanna," she replied from Ops. "But I do know where you should be going."

"Oh?" Kensi and Deeks visibly perked up at this news.

"Yes, if you go North-west of your current position and walk straight you should come across him," she instructed.

"How?" Deeks mouthed at his partner who just shrugged in response.

She was just as confused as him but she had learned long ago not to question Hetty. She was _always _right, especially when it came to Callen.

Sam nodded along with her directions.

"Any landmark we need to be aware of?" he asked.

"Only Mr Callen," she said humourlessly.

"Got your gun and knives?" Sam asked his team.

The nodded affirmatively after patting themselves down.

"Let's go then."


	6. Rescue

Callen quickly looked up, body tensing. He carefully put the diary down and scanned the trees. He still couldn't see much, especially now that the light was dimming. When had that started to happen?

'Crunch, crunch'

He scrambled to his feet, automatically grasping the gun. Whoever it was didn't need to know it was empty.

There was a slipping noise and a soft thump. More than one person. Callen strained his ears and mentally counted footsteps. Probably three people?

He could hear voices now, they weren't close enough to decipher what they were saying or what language they were speaking. They were getting closer. He could see broken shadows on the leaves now, the evening making them long.

"Federal Agent, I'm armed!" Callen called into the trees.

More rustling.

"Federal Agent," he repeated. "Declare yourself."

Someone cursed, then yelped at the sound of a thump. That sounded familiar-

Suddenly there was the sound of twigs breaking and heavy footsteps. Something was coming careening towards him.

"G!"

Callen's whole body relaxed. It was Sam. His large partner crashed through the trees, looking as relieved as he felt. Kensi and Deeks followed, the latter grinning like a fool as he rubbed his arm, probably where Kensi thumped him.

"Nice to see you, oh fearless leader," the LAPD detective quipped, hair more messed up than usual.

There was an impressive number of twigs in the blond's hair. Kensi, on the other hand, looked remarkably put together. No forest paraphilia in her hair and only some mud on her boots.

Kensi rolled her eyes and looked at Sam, "Is he whole?"

Feeling slightly insulted that she didn't direct it at him, he glared at her. She ignored him. He must be getting out of practice, she didn't even hesitate. Nevertheless, he allowed Sam give him a cursory check.

"Were you unconscious?" his partner asks.

"Yeah," he decided to answer truthfully.

"For long?"

"Dunno."

Sam didn't look too happy at his answer, as if it was Callen's fault. He shrugged, not knowing what else to add. He didn't particularly want to bring up his throbbing head so Callen decided to ask a few questions of his own.

"What happened?"

Kensi frowned, "You don't remember?"

Shrugging his shoulders non-committedly, not wanting to worry them (not that Sam looked convinced), he repeated himself.

"We managed to stop the child trafficking ring," started Kensi, suddenly glancing at his feet-she had noticed the suitcase.

"Involving a fair number of politicians and high-ranking navy officer's children," added Deeks.

"Found them in a warehouse six-miles West from here. A bit battered, none worse for wear," finished Sam succinctly. "You were right, by the way. It _was _the Russians. We'll give you the full run down back at the boatshed."

"Where _is _here? And _why _am I here?"

"Hollywood Hills," Kensi supplied, picking up the suitcase carefully.

Callen grabbed the diary from it. His team looked at him questioningly.

"I think this belongs to one of the kids," he explained, waving it at them. "They'll want it back."

Kensi and Deeks nodded in acceptance and they went back to sorting out how to handle all the evidence the case provided. Sam's arms were around his shoulders, holding him up. When had he fallen?

"And we're not entirely sure _how _you got here," added Sam, shifting Callen's weight. "Brace your knees, G."

"You took off after a runner and 'poof'!" Deeks explained at his confused frown, waving his hands in a jazzy-type fashion.

"You disappeared," said Kensi.

"Disappeared?"

"Yep and you didn't even start in this direction. Thankfully, the Wonder Twins were up to the task."

"We're still not convinced that your capture was directly related to the case," added Kensi. "Sure, Robbs-"

"The guy you were chasing," Deeks added helpfully.

"-was definitely responsible for the trafficking ring but he shouldn't have even been near the shipping containers." Kensi continued, flicking through the papers.

"We think he's working for someone bigger and when he saw you, he took a chance," interjected Sam.

"So, basically, it's someone I've pissed off," Callen summed up.

"Shocking," Sam muttered in his ear.

Kensi had repacked the case with the papers, carrying the gun and passports in separate evidence bags, and brought it over to their huddle.

"Time to head back?" she asked, looking at Callen worriedly.

Maybe now was a good time to mention that the world was wobbling.

Sam nodded resolutely, adjusting his grip on his partner.

"I can walk," Callen protested, even as his knees gave way.

"Uh huh," Sam muttered, unconvinced. "Lean on me."

At least he didn't need to be carried. Small mercies.

"How long was I here?" he asked as the slowly began to leave the small clearing.

"Two or so hours, we _think__"_

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Callen not wanting to expend any more energy than necessary. Everything was starting ache. He was starting to feel drained.

"One thing I don't understand," Callen said slowly, making everyone look at him questioningly. "How did you find me?"

They were pretty deep into the forest as far as he could tell. They hadn't reached a road yet and he couldn't hear any vehicles.

Everyone snorted.

"Ask Hetty," Sam instructed him,

"Maybe _you'll _actually get a straight answer," muttered Deeks.

**AN: This is were I was originally going to end the story but I'm not sure. Is there anything else you would like to see? **


	7. Clearing Things Up

"So, explain that to me again?" Callen requested, rubbing his eyes.

Nell gave him a satisfied look as she clicked off the pen light used for checking for concussions.

"Well?" Sam asked expectantly, ignoring his partner.

"Only mild concussion," Nell diagnosed, sounding vaguely impressed.

Deeks shook his head in confusion, still shedding leaves from the forest.

"I don't understand," he complained as Kensi resumed picking twigs out of his hair. "I thought Callen was drugged? How did he get concussed?"

"We did find that syringe in Robbs' car," Kensi reminded them.

For some pretty smart criminals that had already managed to evade federal agents once, the team having only captured the lackies involved in the kidnappings, they were pretty dumb. They had found Jordan Robbs' two accomplices, at the address Eric and Nell had dug up, completely drunk, celebrating that they were still free men and Robbs himself, looking rather beat up, smoking a definitely illegal substance.

Thankfully, it had only taken a brief scuffle to apprehend the lot of them. Of course, Robbs had tried to jump off a second-floor balcony onto a garage roof but Sam had caught him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him away.

"There was some of his blood on a nearby rock," explained Sam. "He must have banged his head when they threw him out of the car."

"Yeah, I don't get that either. Why-"

"Um, guy who was injured would really like to be reminded of _what actually happened_," Callen said pointedly, interrupting Deeks.

"We already told you it was a kidnapping by the Russian mob," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"That's _all _you told," stressed Callen, tapping the side of hi head. "Amnesia, remember?"

"Which should clear over the next week or so," Hetty said, sounding pleased.

"It's the _last _week I want to know about," Callen muttered, rubbing his forehead.

He was now getting flashes of the last few days but still nothing from yesterday or earlier today.

"Forensics did say that the chemical in the syringe mixed with a head injury can mess with your head," Kensi said, starting to brush the twigs from Deeks head onto the floor but, after a pointed look from Hetty, swept them into her hands and dumped them in the bin instead.

"You just have to be patient, G," Sam said calmly.

Callen just snorted.

"So, let me get this straight," Callen began, waving his hands to silence everyone. "The Russians were kidnapping children of high-ranking Navy personnel to use to extort Navy secrets."

"That is correct," Hetty confirmed.

"But not to help the actual Russian government?"

"We think they're Chechnyan rebels trying to arm themselves," Kensi elaborated.

"Miss Jones is running a search on every man involved as we speak and if they have links with existing Chechnyan groups." Hetty added.

Callen nodded along with their explanations. The floor plan in Russian and forged passports were starting to make sense. He picked up a copy of the suitcase documents. Now that he knew where everything had gone down, the map _did_ look like a rough copy of a shipping area. He didn't know how he had missed it.

There was only one more thing bothering him.

"Why was I even taken? Why not leave me unconscious somewhere if they didn't want to kill me?" he asked, agitated, disliking the feeling f having a target on him.

"I checked Robbs' records to follow up with the idea that they were targeting you as a separate plan and got lucky today with who confronted them," Nell said, showing her iPad. "But he has no links with anyone who you have captured in the past."

"We think their plan was to knock you out and bundle you away, maybe use you as a more valuable hostage than the kids," said Sam, voicing their conclusions.

"But then they realised that crap, you're a federal agent and panicked," Deeks finished.

Callen frowned at them with a raised eyebrow, "And, just _dumped _me in the forest?"

Everyone nodded.

"You _were _pretty far in," Kensi pointed out. "Like you had been hidden."

"Maybe they meant to come back for me?"

Sam shook his head, "Nah, else you would have been tied up."

"True," Callen acknowledged.

Eric scrunched this nose up, looking slightly out of place in the boatshed despite being the only one appropriately dressed for it.

"They weren't particularly smart about it, were they?"

Sam slapped him on the back and said cheerfully, "Thankfully, they weren't or else Callen would probably be in hospital.

"Hey!" Callen complained as everyone nodded sagely around him. "I'm normally the one doing the knocking out."

Everyone chuckled and shook their heads. Kensi and Deeks jumped off the table they had been perched on. Someone's stomach grumbled. Probably Kensi's.

"Think we should feed you, Kensalina," Deeks said.

"Oh definitely," Kensi agreed and looked around the room. "Anyone else?"

"Me and G are going to hang at mine and watch a movie," Sam informed them.

"We are?" Callen asked, turning to give his partner a look.

Sam remained unaffected by it, "We are."

"What about you guys?" Deeks asked Nell and Eric.

The two meerkats looked at each other before nodding.

"Have you tried that new barbeque place?" asked Eric as they headed towards the door.

"I've seen the Yelp reviews," they heard Deeks' voice float from the door.

The door slammed shut and cars revved away. Silence flooded the boatshed. Callen sighed in relief, he loved his team but his ears had been beginning to ring.

"I have one thing I require you to do, Mr Callen," Hetty informed him.

"Surely, I'm excused from reports," he complained, turning back from the door.

Hetty's lips twitched, "You are. Memory loss tends to shorten those a bit too much for the bureaucrats. But no."

"Oh?"

'Knock, knock' went the boat shed door.

Hetty handed him an evidence bag.

"I trust that you know what to do with this."


	8. The Final Exchange

**AN: This is for /u/Amjm and /u/countrygirluk56 who wanted the diary to be returned to its rightful owner.**

Callen looked down at the bag, confused.

"Is that the diary you found? Did you figure out if it was one of the kids'?" asked Sam, peering over his shoulder.

"It is," Callen muttered, tracing its edges. "And no."

"It's a one Mikayla Swanson's, Second Lieutenant Swanson's eleven-year-old daughter," Hetty informed him.

Sam and Callen gave her a look. How did she even know these things?

Hetty just shook her head in amused as she went to open the door to those who were knocking, "Her name's inside the cover, gentlemen. Alongside some very dire threats that even Miss Blye would be proud of."

"Hello, Lieutenant Swanson," Hetty greeted a very tall dark-haired man in a Marine uniform. "Miss Swanson. If you would excuse me."

And with that she edged around the pair and left. Leaving Callen holding this girl's diary and Sam standing next to him, staring at the father-daughter pair.

The young girl, Mikayla, was dwarfed by her impressively tall and buff father. He towered over Sam and had a kind face. The two of them hesitantly stepped into the main room of the boatshed, looking around them.

"I insisted that I wanted to thank you guys in person. So, uh, I just want to thank you so much Agent's-?" Second Lieutenant Swanson gushed questioningly.

"Callen and Hanna," Sam introduced, indicating who was who and holding out his hand. "And it was no problem."

The hand was encased in a firm handshake.

"You saved my daughter," then man aid, clutching the small girl next to him who was pressed closely to his side, long blonde hair covering her face. "I'll be forever in your debt."

"Just doing our job," Callen said, also shaking his hand.

He surreptitiously gave Mikayla a once over. She was looking ok, despite having been kidnapped. Apparently, she was one of the first to be kidnapped so she had been slightly dehydrated and had some mild cuts on her face and hands. She had been the only one who needed a brief hospitalisation but she mustn't have been as bad as she looked. It looked like she had fought back, there were bandages on her knuckles and the remains of a cream on the bruises on her face.

She smiled shyly at them and clung tighter to her father. Sam gave Callen a pointed nudge.

"Oh," he said, smiling at the girl and pulling the diary out of the evidence bag to hold out to her. "I believe this belongs to you."

Looking questioningly at her father, who gave her a nod, she took the two steps forward to get it. Callen pushed it into her hands. The purple-painted fingernails dug into its cover as she stared at it, as if she was unsure that it was hers. She opened the front cover and looked inside it. She smiled briefly upon confirmation that it was her name in there.

Mikayla gave him a suspicious look and flicked through it as if she could tell simply by looking at the pages that it had been read.

"You didn't read it, did you?" she asked, clutching the book to her chest.

"Mikayla!" her father said disapprovingly, giving Callen an apologetic look.

"It's a _private _book, daddy."

"Agent Callen is a federal agent-"

Callen waved him off.

"No, I didn't," he told her, giving her a serious look.

He knew from Kamran how seriously young girls took their diaries. Heck, Kamran had an elaborate method for hiding hers every night according to Sam.

Mikayla stared at him, weighing him up, before nodding.

"Good."

Callen smiled at her. "Happy to get it back to you."

"The bad guys didn't get it?" she questioned anxiously.

Callen shook his head. "Nope, they didn't even have it for long."

Well, they didn't exactly know that but a small white lie to sooth a young girl was hardly a bad thing. To be honest, it had probably been on her when she had been kidnapped and it had just fallen onto the car seat and swept unknowingly into the suitcase. They had used the same vehicle for each kidnapping. It didn't look like a stereotypical kid's diary (despite being purple) as it didn't say so on the cover and had no lock. The Russian's probably thought it was one of theirs.

She bit her lip and looked shyly between hm and her father. Suddenly he had an armful of preteen girl, her hair up his nose.

"Thank you sooo much," she whispered in his ear, squeezing him tight.

Callen froze, not knowing how to interact with a child that wasn't one of Sam's. He awkwardly patted her back.

"It was no problem," he said uncomfortably, giving Sam a 'help me' look.

His traitor of a partner was trying to hide a smile.

Mikayla thankfully released him and looked up at him with worshipping wide brown eyes.

"You're a real superhero, sir," she informed him seriously.

Callen gave a real smile at that, resisting the Deeks-like urge to strike a pose.

Now, if only he could figure out how Hetty knew where he was...


End file.
